How long has the "Next Gen" been on your radar?

[Duncan Donuts]

I am curious to hear when you first heard about/started following/started believing in the following young guns:

Alexander Zverev
Dominic Thiem
Nick Kyrgios
Andrey Rublev
Borna Coric
Jack Sock
Karen Khachanov
Daniil Medvedev
Lucas Pouille
Kyle Edmund
Thanasi Kokkinakis
Frances Tiafoe
Denis Shapovalov
Jiri Vesely
Hyeon Chung
Taylor Fritz

When did you first notice some or all of the guys on this list?

I will comment on my first memories of some young guns that I can remember.

Alexander Zverev - Hamburg 2014...I think he made it to the SF that year (only 17 too that was impressive). I've had him pegged as a future star since.

Dominic Thiem - Madrid 2014. I watched that match where he beat Stan Wawrinka. Very impressive win. He just seemed so comfortable on clay...I thought he could take the Roland Garros reigns away from Rafa down the road.

Nick Kyrgios - Wimbledon 2014...probably what most will say. He torched Rafa.

Denis Shapovalov - 2016 Davis Cup umpire incident...

Lucas Pouille - 2015 French Open. He lost to Gilles Simon but took a set, which I did not see coming. I was thinking its about time a young Frenchman stepped up. I thought it would either be Pouille or Halys to be the next big Frenchman.

Andrey Rublev - 2014 French Open...he won the Junior event. One of the few times that I actually watched the boys final. Seemed like a natural clay courter.

Borna Coric - Basel 2014. Beat Rafa...

Karen Khachanov - Chengdu 2016. 20 years old and just wins a tournament out of the blue...impressive.

Thanasi Kokkinakis - 2015 Aussie Open. He beat Ernests Gulbis in 5 sets. Great crowd, great atmosphere.

Jiri Vesely - US Open 2015. Beat Ivo Karlovic. I liked the match because it pitted old school giant vs. up and coming big. I was so disappointed he couldn't conquer Mt. Isner as well in the next match.



What are some of your first memories of the ATP youth?

 

[Arti]

Alexander Zverev- When he won his first challenger event against Paul henri Mathieu in 2014.
Dominic Thiem- Heard about him when he beat Wawrinka in Madrid 2014.
Nick Kyrgios- Aussie open boys final in 2013 vs Kokkinakis.
Borna Coric- Basel 2014. Beat Rafa.
Karen Khachanov- Remeber him playing a close Davis cup Rubber against Spain, then followed him as he started to win big junior events and finally winning Chengdu.
Lucas Pouille- Saw Lucas beat Nadal at 2016 USO, was sitting first row, crazy match.
Kyle Edmund- Saw him win Sunrise future's in 2014.
Thanasi Kokkinakis- Remember him playing the Aussie open boys final against Kyrgios in 2013, great tennis from two youngsters.
Frances Tiafoe- Saw him beat Kozlov at the 2013 Orange Bowl.
Denis Shapovalov- I met Shapovalov when he won his first futures title in Weston in 2016. Crazy how far he's come.
Jiri Vesely- Beating Novak at 2016 Monte Carlo.
Hyeon Chung- Men's Claycourt Championships 2016 in Houston, saw him against Tommy Paul.
Taylor Fritz- First noticed when he went on an absolute tear in 2016 Memphis.

 

[tennisaddict]

Disappointed Tomic not on your list.

Noticed Pouille in 2014 Bercy when Fed beat him 4 and 4 and had nice things to say. He qualified for 2015 Auckland and made SF.

Alex Zverev - Same as you - Hamburg 2014

 

[TripleATeam]

Zverev- Hamburg 2014. Made a big splash there, then I didn't see much of him until Montpelier 2016. Seemed good.

Thiem- Indian Wells 2014. Saw he took out Simon, and I decided to see where he went. After Madrid, I knew the kid was legit.

Kyrgios- Wimbledon 2014.

Shapo- Drummodville 2016. Saw he beat a top 100 player at not even 18. Checked out his history, and he was going far in Challengers left and right. Even took Evans to 3 sets. After winning two more titles in April 2016, I knew he would be great. That was only confirmed in Canada 2016 when he beat Kyrgios.

Pouille- I never really followed him, but I remember his 2014 Paris. Took out Karlovic and Fognini, only falling to Federer in R16.

Rublev- I think it was Miami 2015. Took out Busta, then fell to Isner.

Coric- Basel 2014- took out Rafa to make the semis. Also saw he was Croatian and decided to follow him a little more intently. Stopped following when it was clear he would remain a perennial top 50 player.

Khachanov- Chengdu 2016. New guy comes in and wins a 250 going through Sousa, Lopez, Troicki, and Vinolas? Caught my eye to say the least.

Kokkinakis- 2015 French Open. Takes out Lopez to make the R16 of an Indian Wells Masters at age 18. Impressed me, but I thought nothing of it. In the French, he made the R3, so I thought he could be a top player. Didn't really ever happen.

Vesely- Thought US Open 2015 was a fluke- Karlovic chokes sometimes. April 2016 he won my begrudging respect when he took out Djokovic in Monte-Carlo.

 

[True Fanerer]

Started thinking about them when Fedal looked toast

 

[veroniquem]

Shapo: like 5 minutes ago (this summer) but already swooning (he is IT baby). So much heart!
Kyrgios: his famous (notorious for some...) kick-ss run at Wimby. And still so much untapped potential. + cheeky, unpredictable, entertaining dude
Khachanov/Donaldson: saw them play qualies at USO last year, was duly impressed (although Donaldson has regressed a bit since then).
Tiafoe: IW last year. Played a great match against Goffin.
Sasha: it's been a while, can't even remember. I probably fainted the first time I saw his hair

Don't really care about the others, those are the ones that stood out for me.
Ready for the Sashavalov rivalry to take off !!!! It's gonna be Huuuuuuuuuuuuuge Those 2 are pure tennis and eye candy, becoming more and more hooked at every one of their appearances.

 

[Duncan Donuts]

Coric- Basel 2014- took out Rafa to make the semis. Also saw he was Croatian and decided to follow him a little more intently. Stopped following when it was clear he would remain a perennial top 50 player.

Khachanov- Chengdu 2016. New guy comes in and wins a 250 going through Sousa, Lopez, Troicki, and Vinolas? Caught my eye to say the least.

Completely agree bout Coric.

Whoops, I confused Bautista Agut with Ramos-Vinolas....how did I fumble that? I will correct my original post.

 

[gogo]

I'm a newer tennis fan so can't comment on many on your list.

But, what got me hooked here at TTW was the up and coming Canadian teens. I saw a couple of local headlines and, since I love a "young hopeful" story I began to follow tennis. I tracked Felix Auger Aliassime and then noticed that there was another Canadian teen who kept popping up... a certain Denis Shapovalov. I followed them as they competed in the summer of 2015 at junior tournaments, ultimately ending up at the US Open jrs, where they came away with the doubles championship at the ripe old ages of "newly turned 15 and 16". That impressed me a lot.

In October 2015 they took Canada to the Junior Davis Cup trophy. Then Denis won Wimbledon juniors in 2016, after a run of Futures wins. And Felix lost 4 match points, in the final of Roland Garros juniors, before sealing the deal and taking the US Open junior championship in 2016.

How often do two phenoms come along from one country?? I was hooked.

And now you all have to put up with me here on the TT forums! My apologies.

 

[cc0509]

I like to watch these two younger players the most: Kyrgios and Shapovalov. Their tennis is interesting to watch. Kyrgios is raw talent but has problems with focus and motivation unless he's facing the Big Three which is too bad. Shapovalov is a young dynamo who has all the tools to be great so let's hope he doesn't blow it. I think Zverev will have a successful career as he has the big game and the mindset.

 

[veroniquem]

There is something about Z vs Shapo that gets me going. It's like fire and ice (Z being the ice of course ). Makes sparks, causes shivers.

 

[TheAverageFedererFan]

Zverev: When he beat Federer at 2016 Halle.
Thiem: Beating Wawrinka at Madrid 2014
Kyrgios: Beating Nadal at Wimbledon 2014
Shapovalov: The incident...
Pouille: Beating Nadal at 2016 US Open
Edmund: Losing to Djokovic at 2016 US Open
Kokinakis: 2015 Australian Open
Rublev: 2015 Miami
Coric: Basel 2014
Khachanov: 2016 Chengdu
Vesely: Monte Carlo 2016

 

[Sparlingo]

I'm a newer tennis fan so can't comment on many on your list.

But, what got me hooked here at TTW was the up and coming Canadian teens. I saw a couple of local headlines and, since I love a "young hopeful" story I began to follow tennis. I tracked Felix Auger Aliassime and then noticed that there was another Canadian teen who kept popping up... a certain Denis Shapovalov. I followed them as they competed in the summer of 2015 at junior tournaments, ultimately ending up at the US Open jrs, where they came away with the doubles championship at the ripe old ages of "newly turned 15 and 16". That impressed me a lot.

In October 2015 they took Canada to the Junior Davis Cup trophy. Then Denis won Wimbledon juniors in 2016, after a run of Futures wins. And Felix lost 4 match points, in the final of Roland Garros juniors, before sealing the deal and taking the US Open junior championship in 2016.

How often do two phenoms come along from one country?? I was hooked.

And now you all have to put up with me here on the TT forums! My apologies.

That would almost exactly correspond with my new fanship of tennis

 

[Noelan]

Noticed
Zverev: USO 2013 boys losing to Coric in SF
Thiem: Shangai 2014 losing to Djokovic
Kyrgios: AO boys F 2013 beating Kokkinakis
Shapovalov: Wimbledon boys f 2016
Pouille: Paris Masters 2014 losing to Federer
Edmund: Davis Cup 2015 GB vs AUS
Kokinakis: see Kirgyos
Rublev: 2015 Miami
Coric: see Zverev
Khachanov: Barcelona 2016 beating RBA
Vesely: Davis Cup 2015 Czech vs AUS

 

[The Green Mile]

Difficult to say, a few of them were on my radar before I watched a full match of theirs.

Alexander Zverev - His Hamburg run in 2014.
Dominic Thiem - IW 2014 vs Simon
Nick Kyrgios - His match against Paire at the AO 2014
Andrey Rublev - IW 2015, Isner defeating Rublev, didn't watch it though. Halle this year against Khachanov was actually the first time I watched a match of his
Borna Coric - Murray vs Coric Davis Cup, though his match against Gulbis at Basel 14 was the first match I saw
Jack Sock - Roddick vs Sock USO
Karen Khachanov - His title last year
Daniil Medvedev - AO 2017, first match I saw was against Simon at Lyon
Lucas Pouille - Paris 2014 vs Fed
Kyle Edmund - Eastbourne 2013 against Simon
Thanasi Kokkinakis - AO 2014 against Nadal
Frances Tiafoe - When he got a wildcard into FO 2015, first match was the amazing match against Goffin at IW.
Denis Shapovalov - Wimbledon juniors last year, first full match against Kyrgios at Canada
Jiri Vesely - Auckland 2015, won the title.
Hyeon Chung - Sometime during 2015, Wawrinka at the USO maybe the first full match
Taylor Fritz - IW 2015, though I watched his entire Memphis run the next year, first time seeing him play a full match.